Netball: Casey and the Sunshine Band

Casey Williams, right, uses her height advantage as she battles for possession. Sandra Mu / Getty Images

Ruth Aitken tells a story which gives a hint to the regard Casey Williams is held among netball's cogniscenti.

The Silver Ferns coach recalled March's Commonwealth Games final in Melbourne against Australia. At halftime, New Zealand were 36-29 ahead, a healthy lead but far from decisive.

So Aitken and her assistant Leigh Gibbs brought on Williams to bolster the defensive end.

"It wasn't really until after the game that Leigh and I thought 'God, that's the first time she'd played against Australia'. It never really entered our thinking. We felt we needed a change and it was just a natural thing for us to do."

And on the biggest netball stage in a raucous cauldron "she handled it brilliantly".

Ask people in the know about long-limbed Williams and they tend to say similar things: terrific prospect, technically clean as a whistle on the court, on track to become one of the greats of New Zealand netball and a beaut, level-headed country girl.

Williams admits that her family are good at making sure her head doesn't get turned by lofty praise.

And she has had a fair bit of that since cracking the Magic squad while a Year 13 student at Matamata College in 2003.

Magic coach Noeline Taurua first nabbed her a year earlier for the Bay of Plenty squad at the national championships.

At school, Williams tended to play half a game as a goal shoot, half at the back. She doesn't remember the reason for that strategic plan but those days are long gone as she's risen the netball pecking order. Any shooting aspirations have vanished.

"I don't know why I became a defender," she said.

"At school level, shooting was fun, it was cool. But not at such a high level where it gets more serious. Playing defender at a professional level, I feel more comfortable with that."

Williams made her Silver Fern debut in Jamaica last year against Barbados. She's played nine tests and her most recent experience at the Commonwealth Games was notable for having played in that final with a fractured bone in an ankle.

Neither she, nor the team management realised the blow she'd taken in the semifinal was that serious. It was not sore, but it did sideline her for the early rounds of the National Bank Cup.

Williams is still doing some rehabilitation work but she feels "100 per cent and back to normal".

And that's showing as she and Joline Henry have laid down a marker as one of the best defensive pairings in the competition.

A fortnight ago, they restricted the Sting to 51 goals as the Magic roared directly into the final with a 10-goal win. The goal tonight will be much the same but the chances are the collective shooting abilities of Natalie Avellino, Donna Loffhagen, Belinda Colling and Tania Dalton won't give them an easy time of it.

Williams admits she's a tough marker of her own game.

"I can always tell when I come off court if I've played good or bad. I can tell if I didn't get enough intercepts or if I was getting pulled by the umpires a lot or if the defence weren't connecting."

Being brought up on the family farm at Hinuera, a couple of clicks south of Matamata, the third of four children, has helped her keep a perspective about life and sport.

Williams flats in Hamilton and is studying to be a physical education teacher.

She's not the completed defensive article but Williams, who has a vertical standing leap of about 80cm, knows what areas need special work.

"I need to get fitter and that will help the rest of my game. And be more of a presence on my player."

Translation: Williams needs to put herself about a bit more. And that's another thing people say about the amiable 21-year-old. She's a bit too nice on court.

"In trainings Noeline seems to be talking to me about being too nice. Clean, but too nice. But I got told when we played the Sting (in the semifinal a fortnight ago) that it was the most aggressive they'd seen me."

And this is a world where a spot of aggro is good. Taurua is adamant Williams has it in her to become a legend of the game. "No doubt about that. She's got all the skills. She does things nobody can do without touching (her opponent). She's clean on the ball, she reads the game naturally, but she's got to learn to be more dominant." Taurua conceded there are times Williams needed a friendly "kick up the bum".

Aitken seemed to have a similar view, pointing out she has to maintain her intensity through all four quarters. "She's often a bit slow to start but winds into it. She has a truckload of natural ability but is now marrying that to a really good work ethic. Her progress is just fantastic."

And what of tonight's final? Williams has a simple assessment of what the Magic need to do to retain their title. "To score on our own ball, and any ball we turn over is a bonus. Then score the bonus balls."

Simple really.

CASEY WILLIAMS

* Nickname: KC

* Born: June 19, 1985

* Height: 1.87m

* Position: Goal Keep, Goal Defence

* Occupation: PE student

* Tests: 9

* Teams: Bay of Plenty, Magic, NZ under 21, Silver Ferns